Karachi Defence Assault: Police register FIR after woman’s complaint

KARACHI: Karachi Defence assault allegations have led police to register a first information report (FIR) after a woman complained that she and her brother were assaulted during a dispute at a residential building in Khayaban-e-Bukhari.

The FIR was registered at Darakhshan Police Station on Saturday following the woman’s complaint.

The case follows a video that went viral on social media last week showing two women fighting at a flat while police personnel were present at the scene. Police had previously registered a case at Darakhshan Police Station in connection with the incident.

According to the complainant, she was at home with her brother and mother on August 29 when a woman identified as Maryam allegedly called her downstairs.

She alleged that Maryam later came upstairs, shouted abuses and kicked the door of the family’s flat.

The complainant said Maryam grabbed her by the hair and took her mobile phone when she opened the door. She also alleged that her mother was assaulted during the confrontation.

She further alleged that Maryam pushed her against a wall, causing an injury to her face, and struck her with a dumbbell.

The woman said she and her family members ran inside the flat for safety and contacted Madadgar 15. Police personnel subsequently arrived outside the apartment, she said.

The complainant also alleged that police officers broke a camera outside the flat, entered the residence and took the mobile phones belonging to her and her brother before taking them to the police station.

The FIR invokes sections of the Pakistan Penal Code relating to public servants allegedly preparing incorrect documents with intent to cause injury, rioting while armed, theft, causing damage and causing hurt.

The incident occurred on August 29 at a residential building in Defence’s Khayaban-e-Bukhari. Footage of the confrontation later circulated widely online, showing police personnel at the scene and an officer or official vehicle outside the building.

Another video showed the injured woman, identified as Noor-ul-Ain, describing injuries to her face and saying her hair had been pulled out.

Following the circulation of the footage, DIG South Asad Raza ordered an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the incident. The SSP Investigation South was tasked with conducting the investigation.

Police have said the challan has not yet been submitted and that sections relating to snatching and theft were removed from the case.

Investigators also said a plain-clothed official visible in CCTV footage allegedly belonged to Korangi Police. They said police personnel seen in the footage would be questioned as part of the investigation.

The dispute has also reached the Sindh High Court, where the woman and her brother alleged that police initially refused to register their complaint and instead booked a case against them.

Their lawyer, Muhammad Arif, told the court that the siblings had repeatedly approached police seeking a case against the alleged attackers but claimed no action was taken because the opposing side was influential.

He said the siblings faced serious security concerns and had been unable to return home for 11 days.

The lawyer said DIG South later contacted the applicants, assured them that action would be taken and recorded their statements.

He also alleged that the earlier case against the siblings was false and based on an incorrect account of the incident.

The Sindh High Court directed police to provide protection to the applicants and issued notices to the respondents for September 21.

Meanwhile, SSP Korangi Fida Hussain Janwari has denied any connection between himself or his family and the women shown in the viral footage.

There had been speculation on social media that the women involved in the confrontation were relatives of senior police officials.

“Neither my wife nor my sister is in the video,” Mr Janwari said.

He described a social media post linking the footage to him as “disgraceful” and said it had falsely portrayed a woman of his daughter’s age as his wife.

Mr Janwari said he intended to take legal action against those who circulated the video while associating it with him and added that he had contacted officials from the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency.